The present invention relates to tools and methods used in the repair of eyeglasses. More particularly, the present invention relates to a clamping tool and system for attaching a spring-hinged temple to eyeglass frame fronts. The tool of the present invention assists in inserting or removing temple screws in eyeglass frames with spring hinge temples.
Conventional eyeglasses or spectacles use a frame to support and position a pair of optical lenses in front of the eyes for vision correction. The eyeglass frame will typically include a frame front that rests on the bridge of the nose to support the eyeglass lenses, and left and right elongate members called temples that extend rearwardly from endpieces on the frame front to provide support for the frame on the ears of the wearer. In many such eyeglass frames, the temples are pivotally attached to the endpieces on the frame front using spring hinges. As discussed in greater detail below, the frame front is attached to the temples using temple screws inserted through a common cylindrical aperture that is created when a temple aperture and frame front aperture are axially aligned. The spring in the spring hinge temple is connected to a movable member that, when the temple is joined with the frame front, shares the common aperture with the endpiece of the frame front.
Because the temple spring is in a tension state, when a temple is detached from the frame front during a repair process, the tension of the spring causes the movable member of the temple to become misaligned with the center line of the aperture. This makes it more difficult to manually position and insert the temple screws for reassembly. Accordingly, the movable member of the spring hinge temple must be temporarily clamped in an extended position in order to achieve accurate axial alignment between the temple aperture and the frame front aperture.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,775,678, issued to Serge Ferland, on Jul. 7, 1998, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, discloses an eyeglass repair tool used to clamp the spring hinge moveable member in its extended position by utilizing a wire as the clamping device. This device is inherently less stable and rigid and is a more complex clamping tool. Also, this is not as useful for clamping spring hinge members having recessed openings, as is present in many spring hinge structures.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,286 issued to John P. Shaw on Feb. 19, 1991, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, discloses an eyeglass repair tool used to hold frame fronts and spring hinge temples in place. However, this tool does not retain spring hinge structures in an extended position and thus does not facilitate accurate alignment of the frame front aperture with the temple aperture for achieving easy insertion and extraction of the temple screw.
What is needed, then, is a simplified eyeglass repair tool, system and method that facilitate the attachment of spring hinge temples to eyeglass frame fronts by applying the proper force to overcome the tension of the spring hinge and allowing for easy, accurate alignment of the temple and frame front apertures.
The present invention relates to a tool, system, and method used for attaching a spring-hinged temple to an eyeglass frame front.
An object of the present invention is to provide a simple multi-faceted hand tool to facilitate the attachment of spring hinge temples to eyeglasses frame fronts. The tool of the present invention allows a user to apply the proper pressure to overcome the tension of the spring hinge in the extended position, thus allowing for accurate axial alignment of the apertures defined by the temple and the frame front along a center line, for easy insertion of the temple screw.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method of attaching a spring-hinged temple to eyeglass frame fronts using a simple, hand-operated tool.
Furthermore, the present invention relates to a clamping tool having first and second arms. The first and second arms are pivotally connected at a pivot point located between proximal and distal ends of the arms. Finger receptacles are integrally attached to the distal ends of the arms for communicating manual force through the first and second arms. The proximal end of the first arm has a clamping surface with an upwardly extending projection shaped to engage a spring hinge eyeglass temple. A gripping surface is integrally formed at the proximal end of the second arm opposing the clamping surface. The first and second arms are provided with a clamp locking mechanism. In one embodiment, the clamp locking mechanism provides stepwise engagement of the first and second arms from an unclamped position in which the distal ends are spaced apart to a clamped position in which the distal ends are brought closer together. The clamp locking mechanism also prevents movement in an opposite direction. That is, the arms close in scissor-like fashion.
In another embodiment of the present invention, a tool for inserting temple screws in eyeglass frames having spring hinge temples includes first and second scissor arms, with each scissor arm having proximal and distal ends, the arms pivotally connected so that the ends can be moved towards and away from one another when the arms are pivotally moved. The tool of this embodiment further includes finger-receiving devices at the distal ends of the scissor arms for communicating manual force to pivotally move the scissor arm ends in scissors-like fashion. The clamp locking mechanism is an extended ratchet device for providing stepwise engagement of the first and second scissor arms in a position where the finger receiving devices are moved closer together and prevented from moving further apart. Clamping and griping surfaces at the proximal ends of the arms provide a means to grip spring hinge eyeglass frames, with an elongated projection extending away from the clamping surface on one arm to engage the eyeglass temples to temporarily secure the spring hinge in a state of extension.
Another embodiment of the present invention is a method of attaching a spring-hinged temple to an eyeglass frame front, the temple having an internal spring attached to a movable member defining a temple aperture, the frame front having a frame front aperture, the temple and frame front apertures defining a common aperture for receiving a temple screw when the temple and frame front apertures are placed in a position of accurate axial alignment. The method includes manipulating the temple and frame front to obtain partial axial alignment of the temple and frame front apertures and then inserting a positioning needle through the temple aperture and frame front aperture to temporarily maintain the partial axial alignment. The spring is then placed under tension by rotating the temple about the positioning needle into an extended position. A clamping tool is attached to the movable member to temporarily maintain the temple in the extended position. The positioning needle is then removed and the temple and frame front apertures are moved into accurate axial alignment to define the common aperture. The temple screw is inserted into the common aperture and the clamping tool is disengaged.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the portion of the temple to be clamped is moved into a proper clamping relationship with the clamping surface, which has at least one of a cone or blade projection that will accommodate the vast majority of spring hinge temples. The projection is securely held in position against the temple by the opposing arm or jaw. The locking tension against the temple is achieved through the multi-ratcheting adjustment of the clamp locking mechanism. Simplicity and function attribute to the easy application of the tool allowing only one hand to hold the frame and the attached tool while the other hand is free to insert or extract the temple screw.